Dual-pump coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering system for temperature and species measurements in an optically accessible high-pressure gas turbine combustor facility

The development and implementation of a dual-pump coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (DP-CARS) system employing two optical sub-systems to measure temperature and major species concentrations at multiple locations in the flame zone of a high-pressure, liquid-fueled gas turbine combustor are discussed. An optically accessible gas turbine combustor facility (GTCF) was utilized to perform these experiments. A window assembly has been designed, fabricated, and assembled in the GTCF to allow optical access from three directions using a pair of thin and thick fused silica windows on each side. A lean direct injection (LDI) device consisting of an array of nine integrated air swirlers and fuel injectors was operated using Jet-A fuel at inlet air temperatures up to 725 K and combustor pressures up to 1.03 MPa. The DP-CARS system was used to measure temperature and CO2/N2 concentration ratio on single laser shots. An injection-seeded optical parametric oscillator (OPO) was used as a narrowband pump laser source in order to potentially reduce shot-to-shot fluctuations in the CARS data. Large prisms mounted on computer-controlled translation stages were used to direct the CARS beams either into the main leg optical system for measurements in the GTCF or to a reference leg optical system for measurements of the non-resonant spectrum and for alignment of the CARS system. The spatial maps of temperature and major species concentrations were obtained in high-pressure LDI flames by translating the CARS probe volume in the axial and vertical directions inside the combustor rig without loss of optical alignment